


horrores de guerra

by secondalto



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Art, Feelings, Gen, Picasso, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24264541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secondalto/pseuds/secondalto
Summary: Steve gets a chance to view an important piece of art
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33
Collections: Banned Banned Together Bingo 2020, Banned Together Bingo 2020





	horrores de guerra

**Author's Note:**

> For Banned Together Bingo. Free space: Gruesome Art  
> Thanks to Rainne for a quick look over and telling me it was GOOD.

It all started so simply. An excursion into Europe when something that SHIELD called an 847 made the citizens of a small Spanish village start manifesting mutant powers. Once the alien item was safely stored, removed, and on it’s way to ‘the Fridge’, there really wasn’t need for a debrief. So Steve decides he know exactly what he’s going to do, and he drags Bucky along with him.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid is somewhere he’s wanted to visit for a long time. He gets a room in one of the best hotels so Bucky can do his own thing when Steve doesn’t demand that his other half join him. The first day he just drifts through all of the exhibits. There really is so much to see. But he’s saving one thing for the next day.

He’d heard of Picasso before and during the war. There were things he didn’t really understand about the man’s style. But he can appreciate the techniques. He prefers the Blue and Rose periods to the Cubism. There are things he can incorporate into his own art. So on the second day he leaves a sated Bucky in their bed for a quick run. Then after a shower and a change of clothes he goes back to the Museo. He goes straight for the painting, stands a respectable distance from it - out of the way of other patrons - and looks.

_Guernica_

It’s stunning that there can be so much going on in a black and white painting. So hard to get everything right. He just stares and stares. As the time passes by him, it starts to seep into him. Everything that Picasso wanted him to see, to feel. Steve had read that the eclectic artist wanted the audience to make their own conclusions about what it should mean. When his stomach rumbled, he pulled himself together to go find Bucky for lunch. 

He keeps going back. He brings his sketchbook once. One night it takes a docent with a gentle hand to his arm for him to realize the museo is closing for the day. Bucky is skillful enough to keep him away for a weekend with suggestive winks and good food. However, on Monday he’s back.

Just looking at it, Steve is taken back to the War. He hears the shouts of commanders and soldiers; the gasps of those hit by bullets or bomb fragments; the keening and whimpering of those who are dying. He can smell the smoky gunpowder, the coppery tang of blood, the accumulated pungency of unwashed humans. He can see the pain, the suffering, the horror, and the waste. 

When he leaves that night, his cheeks are damp, his head aches, his body is drained. Once in his room, he curls up next to Bucky, not bothering to undress. Bucky turns around, hugging him close.

“You okay, Stevie?”

“Will be, Buck.”

They lay there in silence for a bit.

“Come with me tomorrow?”

“Was waiting for you to ask.”


End file.
